A nerdy question

[redragon]

do you think it would actually be possible to see the lasers that are shot in Star Wars? Personally, i believe it would be phyically impossible.....
Opinions?

[_nisa_]

Depends of what kind of laser it is.
As lasers emit strong electromagnetic waves, it can be possible to make them interact with ambient particles making them emit photons at different wave length. If these wavelengths are in the visible domain, then you can see the laser.
There exist many types of lasers: chirurgical lasers to burn tumors that consist of 2 or more lasers focusing on a point, which, due to the convergence of the rays, is heated and is supposed to burn (i suppose CD burners work nearly the same). These ones are not visible. On the other hand you have mesuring lasers in physics that are used to highlight a "dusty" physical region to take a snapshot and find the positions and speed of particles (to make it simple). These are of course visible rays.

I think there are two impossibilities in Star Wars lasers:
- How can they shock instead of going through each other? They are just waves and waves are not solid occupying any physical position, so they can cross each other...
- How can they be limited in space? In Star Wars, the lasers have a well defined end edge which seems not physical.

Anyway, this was a very enjoyable serie! And who cares about physical inconsistencies in an imaginary world (and maybe they are lasers that have not been currently invented in our real world) 

[lostinidlewonder]

The lazers move pretty slow so I would not think that they are completely wave based. They must be surrounding some physical missile which is shot out of the ship at a relatively slow speed (compared to the speed electromagnetic waves moves) and the lazer must be merely a charge of that missile. If you shot a monopolar magnet out of a gun an arc or electricity would follow its path, so it could be that too, but they transform the energy into a colorful laser so they can watch it fly around and entertain them .... and us.

[redragon]

Anyway, this was a very enjoyable serie! And who cares about physical inconsistencies in an imaginary world (and maybe they are lasers that have not been currently invented in our real world) 

Hahahahaha......you make a wonderful point.

[scottmcc]

the various star wars weapons are clearly not physically possible, at least under the constraints of this galaxy, and not one far, far away. 

lasers emit light at one specific wavelength (one color), which is a unique property of that laser.  for instance, a CO2 laser emits at 10,300 nanometers, which is in the infrared spectrum and thus not visible to the naked eye.  for medical uses, this beam is passed through a lens to focus it to a pinpoint for precise cutting or defocus it to a broader swath for coagulation.  this particular wavelength is absorbed by water, thus heating it to where the tissue is vaporized.  a KTP laser though has a wavelength of 532 nm, which is a brilliant green, and is used medically to specifically target blood vessels, as it is absorbed by hemoglobin more than other tissues, thus vaporizing blood-containing structures.

laser pointers use a helium-neon (HeNe) laser to emit a red light at 633 nm.  because the power used is so low, they do not cause appreciable tissue damage (but it's still not a good idea to point them at people's eyeballs).

I could go on about laser physics, but I won't.